Welcome to the Lost Rewind for episode 2X22 "Three Minutes"
Timestamp: Day 65 November 25, 2004
"Three Minutes" is the second on-island flashback, following "Maternity Leave." Both episodes (and in Season Three's on-island flashback in "The Brig") explore what happens when one survivor is abducted and brought into The Others' camp. Joseph Campbell would describe this as the journey into the "Belly of the Whale," part of the Hero's Journey in which the Hero is drawn into a zone of danger, specifically inside the antagonists' space. Traditionally the journey in and back out again of the "belly of the whale" is a moment of rebirth, in which the hero is transformed and is prepared for his further adventures that lie ahead. Discuss Michael's transformation after journeying into the "belly." Did his experience there prepare him for his own "road of trials" in retrieving his son? How do the writers play with our traditional ideas of what it means to be a hero?
Consider the multiple layers of "conning" and manipulation that take place in this episode: Michael is duped by whomever it is on the other side of the computer terminal (Mikhail, perhaps? Henry? Who do you think it was?) luring him out to find Walt; the Others wear their "natural people" clothes and beards, and bring Michael to a tent village, maintaining the illusion that they are living in a primitive fashion; the fake hatch door; and Michael's deception of the other survivors--leading them directly into a trap.
We are witness to the heart-breaking reunion between Michael and Walt. The Others have manipulated this entire scene, and essentially break Michael psychologically. They kept him in fear for his life for a week, and then brought Walt in for what they said would be three minutes (but was actually only roughly one minute), long enough for Walt to slip Michael some alarming suggestions about what they were doing to him. Walt then begs his father to help him, and not to leave him before The Others rip him away from Michael again. Considering Michael's past with Walt and his struggles to be reunited with his son, do you blame him for betraying the survivors for the sake of his son? Are you able to forgive him for killing Ana-Lucia and Libby?
Along the lines of The Others' psychological manipulations of Michael, Miss Klugh questions him regarding Walt:
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MS. KLUGH: Is he your biological son?
MICHAEL: What?
MS. KLUGH: Are you his father?
MICHAEL: Yes, I'm his...
MS. KLUGH: How old was he when he started speaking?
MICHAEL: I, he...
MS. KLUGH: Did he have any illnesses growing up? Headaches? Fainting spells?
MICHAEL: What? No! I don't -- I wasn't there. He was half way around the world. Why are you asking me all these questions?
MS. KLUGH: Did Walt ever appear in a place he wasn't supposed to be? You say he was half way around the world -- did you see him?
MICHAEL: I want my son! You bring him to me right now. I want to see my boy!
MS. KLUGH: For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him, Michael.
This is very similar to the exchange in "Adrift" when Susan's lawyer is questioning Michael:
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LIZZY: Do you know what Walt's first words were, Mr. Dawson?
MICHAEL: I'm sorry, what?
LIZZY: His first words, do you know what they were?
MICHAEL: I -- no, I -- I wasn't there.
LIZZY: Do you know what his favorite food is? [Michael doesn't respond] Do you...
MICHAEL: No!
ATTORNEY: This is unnecessary.
MICHAEL: No.
LIZZY: Well, for someone who wants to retain his paternal rights so badly you don't seem to know much about your son, Mr. Dawson.
MICHAEL: I'm his father.
LIZZY: I'm sorry, could you say that louder please -- just for the record.
MICHAEL: I'm his father.
Is the use of this scene merely to draw a parallel between Susan taking Walt away, and The Others attempting to do the same? Or, is it intended to imply that somehow The Others had access to the court records, including the transcripts from that day when Michael was fighting for custody of Walt? Does this fit in with Ben's methodology of controlling others through information he has collected on them?
Miss Klugh's curious questions: "Is he your biological son?" "Did he have any illnesses growing up? Headaches? Fainting spells?" and, of course: "Did Walt ever appear in a place he wasn't supposed to be? You say he was half way around the world -- did you see him?" What is MissKlugh getting at? Is this simply another means of keeping Michael off-balance, or do The Others have some notion that Walt has special capabilities?
Furthermore, why doesn't Michael answer her when she asks if he ever saw him appear half-way around the world? Do you suppose Michael had? And if Walt can appear in places where he isn't supposed to be, is this related to his appearances to Shannon (or was that merely the Smoke Monster?) and his appearance to Locke in "Through the Looking Glass?" Could it be related to the Orchid Video and Rabbit 15?
"MS. KLUGH: There's been a development since you came here, Michael. One of our people was captured by yours."
Why did The Others lure Michael to them? Note that while Michael was in their custody, Ben was taken hostage by the survivors, so he wasn't originally intended as a trade. What was The Others' original intention for Michael when they abducted him and held him for a week?
Eko's story about the boy and the dog is in some respects reminiscent to the story that Locke tells Kate and Sawyer in "Outlaws," in which his foster mother was comforted by a dog after her daughter died. In that story, the mother believed that the dog was her daughter returning to tell her mother her death was not her fault. In Eko's story, the young boy who killed the dog was not concerned with forgiveness, but rather worried that the dog would be waiting for him in hell, presumably to seek vengeance. Compare the two stories about dogs and forgiveness, and consider the role of "Cerberus" on the blast door map. Cerberus, of course, is the mythological three-headed dog that guarded the gates to hell. There has been some speculation that this could be the name of the Smoke Monster. If so, does this shed some light on the story that Eko tells Michael in this episode, and the events that lead to Eko's own death in "The Cost of Living?"
Why does Charlie finally choose to get rid of all the Heroin Marys? What has made him finally let go? Note that he told Claire that he tried one of the DHARMA injections on himself. Could the medication have helped him overcome his reliance on the heroin, or is it merely coincidental? Claire takes his hand at Ana-Lucia and Libby's funeral. Is this the final turning point in their relationship? Once freed of the drugs once and for all, Charlie is capable of being the family man that he always wanted to be for Claire?
Eko and the button. Following his time in the Pearl Hatch, Eko has an epiphany, and realizes that he has "work to do," namely pushing the button. In devoting himself to this work, Eko abandons the project that he had been working on with Charlie: the church. Charlie becomes embittered at Eko's abandonment because he felt that he had finally found a purpose on the island, only to have Eko walk away. But later, in season three, Charlie has a similar epiphany regarding his true purpose. Discuss the relationship between Eko and Charlie, and their determination to "save" people first through faith and then through works. Both men "push buttons" to save others, and then die soon after. Because they choose to "push buttons" to save others, do they become the sacrifice the island demands?
What really gets me is that I never made the connection that Michael was lured to the Others prior to Ben being captured. It didn't appear that the Others 'stumbled' upon Michael when they caught him. When Pickett shot at Michael - Tom told him, "What are you doing?! We need him." Makes me think they were out there to purposely capture Michael.
Ben getting captured seemed to put a crimp in their plans. Wonder what the original plan was(?)
I'd be interested to find out that in addition to spying on the Swan hatch - the Pearl was capable of communicating with the Swan as well. Perhaps that is what Tom was doing in the Pearl - as mentioned by Julia in Expose.
At this point, I think it was Tom acting as Walt communicating with Michael to lure him out to the jungle. But I reserve the right to change my mind in 'Three Minutes'!
Remember -- Previews are spoilers!
And spoilers are allowed only in the spoiler section!
KFZ
*Avi: Just before sunset - January 1, 2010 Oak Beach, New York
Ana Lucia: When I say 'move', you move. When I say 'stop', you stop. When I say 'jump', what do you say?
There are alot of great questions in here, but for now I have to say that No, I do not and can't forgive Michael for what he did. And when/if he does show back up in Season 4, I bet he isn't welcome with open arms by any of them!
Yes - about Michael - I was shocked when I realized that Klugh never told Michael to kill anyone or even be violent - She only told him to "Make up a story."
But, on the other hand, the Other's did a lot of psychological damage to Michael during that week they held him. I'm not sure he was 'sane' at the time he killed Ana & Libby. It's a tough call.
Remember -- Previews are spoilers!
And spoilers are allowed only in the spoiler section!
KFZ
*Avi: Just before sunset - January 1, 2010 Oak Beach, New York
Ana Lucia: When I say 'move', you move. When I say 'stop', you stop. When I say 'jump', what do you say?
Discuss Michael's transformation after journeying into the "belly." Did his experience there prepare him for his own "road of trials" in retrieving his son? How do the writers play with our traditional ideas of what it means to be a hero?
While it’s more than pretty difficult to justify Michael’s shooting of two totally innocent women, I think, at this point, that it is possible to understand why he did it. Simply put, he did it for Walt. He did it to keep Walt alive and to keep Walt in his life.
As most of us know, there are a lot of similarities between Michael’s custody battle with Susan over Walt and his on-Island “custody battle” with the Others over Walt. Both parties told Michael that for someone that desperately wants his son back, he definitely didn’t know a lot about him. Both parties figuratively dangled Walt in front of him and talked about how they would take Walt away from him for good if such and such happened or didn’t happen. Both parties essentially made Michael feel and look helpless and worthless and made his efforts to keep Walt in his life look bleaker and bleaker. More or less, each group took away any advantage that Michael might have had to keep Walt in his life, including, and possibly most importantly, his emotional mindset and his hope. Basically, both groups forcefully pushed him to the brink of an emotional breakdown and then asked him to make a life-altering Choice...
Personally, I don’t think that Michael’s chance to be a hero came when he had the chance to get Walt back. Honestly, Michael was dealt an unfair hand with both his court case with Susan and his time with the Others and I’m not sure how many people could have got Walt back without killing…someone. I don’t agree with what he did, but I think that if it wasn’t AL and Libby, it would have been someone else. At best, I think all we can do is understand what Michael did…and why. I think, however, that we might see his chance at redemption and at being a hero sometime this season.
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Furthermore, why doesn't Michael answer her when she asks if he ever saw him appear half-way around the world? Do you suppose Michael had? And if Walt can appear in places where he isn't supposed to be, is this related to his appearances to Shannon (or was that merely the Smoke Monster?) and his appearance to Locke in "Through the Looking Glass?" Could it be related to the Orchid Video and Rabbit 15?
Personally, I think that Michael had experienced some weird situations with Walt, perhaps including thinking that he saw him when there was no realistic way that he could have…unless Walt can project himself here, there and everywhere. Unless Walt was not enslaved by time and space.
A thought: If Walt was more than Ben bargained for, what would happen if Walt got a better handle on his seemingly special abilities? Is his appearance to Shannon and Locke a sign of this already starting to happen?
Within the Losties, I’d say that there are varying levels of special abilities to do what most of us would consider impossible. A few of them might have had some strange experiences before the crash, but other than Walt, I’d say that they were minimal. Upon landing on the Island, these abilities have been enhanced by the unique properties of the Island. Is it all about some kind of weird communion with what’s inside the Island? I think that it is something like that and that we may see more of it in Season Four.
Ah, the Orchid video and Bunny #15…what gives? Who knew that bunnies weren’t enslaved by time and space? Somehow, Bunny #15 wasn’t, I’d say. During Dr. Candles’ experiment in the Orchid Video, which probably dealt with trying to manipulate time, though, something crazy happened and the rabbit was duplicated.
Here’s something to think about during the long hiatus: Does anyone think that what Dr. Candle was experimenting with ended up being how Ethan and Richard Alpert travel to and from the Island to do Ben’s dirty work? Another question: Why haven’t we seen Ben ever leave the Island?
I don't remember if this was ever explained later, but my biggest question after this episode is what did they take Michael's blood for?
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Originally Posted by Punky
That's a good question. I originally thought it was to determine if Michael was Walt's biological father.
But... they do take blood from Jack, Kate & Sawyer in the near future. Interesting.
I thought what Punky thought - that it was too see if he was Walt's biological father. When we saw them take blood from JKS later on, though, I thought that they were looking for something in all of their blood samples - like some special identifier. It's interesting that they did the bloodtests while JKS were unconscious - didn't they?
I don't know that we know for certain if they took blood from J/K/S. I know that Jack and Kate both had band-aids on when they woke up, which they made a point of showing. However, they didn't show one on Sawyer. There was a screen-shot of it floating around at one point, but it was never in the actual episode. And Juliet may have said something to Jack about taking blood, but I can't remember. As far as Michael goes, I imagine it probably has something to do with Walt. So may questions and not enough answers!!
I don't know that we know for certain if they took blood from J/K/S. I know that Jack and Kate both had band-aids on when they woke up, which they made a point of showing. However, they didn't show one on Sawyer. There was a screen-shot of it floating around at one point, but it was never in the actual episode. And Juliet may have said something to Jack about taking blood, but I can't remember. As far as Michael goes, I imagine it probably has something to do with Walt. So may questions and not enough answers!!
I think that you might be right, Doc, but I swear that I read somewhere, when this very subject was being discussed before here on the Fuselage, someone ended up finding a picture of Sawyer with a bandaid on his arm...then again, my brain could be loopy from spending so much time on the 'Lage...
I'm a Reb-Belle!! 
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